David Barnett, who will be sworn in to the Springfield governing board on Jan. 1, earlier this month was fined $130,00 by the Securities and Exchange Commission after it filed fraud charges against him.

SPRINGFIELD — While still in his early 20s and with the internet still in its infancy, Springfield’s David Barnett founded an information technology company that eventually grew from two people to more than 100.

Two decades later, Corsis, with its principal offices in New York City’s Flatiron District, helps Fortune 100 companies and venture startups alike navigate the world of ever-evolving IT.

Barnett, 42, has since built on his entrepreneurial acumen by founding other companies, and has parlayed that success into several tenures on various Springfield Township boards, including as chairman of the planning and zoning boards.

On New Year’s Day, Barnett, a Democrat, will begin a three-year term on the township's governing committee, on which he served a previous stint, closing out an unexpired term.

“I feel that my business experience … will translate well to the public sector,” he is quoted as saying on the township’s Democratic Party committee’s website in a post dated Dec. 19.

Starting more than four years ago, though, the Securities and Exchange Commission cast a skeptical eye on at least some of Barnett’s enterprises. And on Dec. 18, the federal agency filed a complaint against him, saying that he and his business partner schemed to defraud investors by artificially inflating revenue at a subsidiary of TheStreet Inc. co-owned by Barnett and his business partner.

According to the complaint, Barnett did not admit or deny guilt, but did agree to pay a $130,000 fine and to not serve as an officer or director of a public company for 10 years.

Barnett declined to speak in detail about the charges or the penalties, citing terms of the settlement with the SEC.

He did say that he was aware of the SEC’s investigation into TheStreet’s books and to his involvement starting in 2008.

Barnett, who has been chairman of the township’s Democratic Party committee for “a couple of years,” said the SEC’s findings and the settlement would have no bearing on his ability to serve as an elected committeeman.

“I think the issue is irrelevant,” he said Friday.

He declined to say if he had ever spoken to his would-be colleagues about the investigation, since, he said, any publicity could have effected the inquiry.

He called the settlement “a business decision.”

“And I think it was a good one,” he added, without elaborating.

According to the SEC’s complaint and a subsequent statement from the agency, Barnett and his business partner “artificially boosted” the subsidiary’s results by fabricating and backdating contracts that eventually led to fraudulent accounting.

The bogus transactions created “inflated or entirely fake revenue” at the subsidiary, which specialized in online promotions such as sweepstakes. The sham dealings in turn reflected increased revenue at TheStreet, leading investors astray, according to the complaint.

In November, Barnett received 3,261 votes, tops among four candidates running for two seats on the governing committee.

On Tuesday, the five committee members will hold their reorganization meeting, and elect one from among all five to serve as township mayor for the next 12 months.